Molding-machine.



J. C. DE LANEY.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man JULY 8,1915.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. C. DE LANEY.

MOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8.191

JOHN C. DE LANEY, OFWATER-TOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

ynonnrne-iuncninn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented JanJlt, iaie.

Application filed July 8, 1915. Serial'No. 38,662.

tion is to provide a molding head with blades having the desired contour, and being capable not only of delivering cuts at any depth, without any danger of breaking the blades, stripping the bolts, securing the same to the head, but also of producing perfectly smoothed molded, and planedlside or edge surfaces; the speed withwhich the materialmay be fed to the molding ,head, being at a maximum, say 300% increase over that commonly employed, this great increase in speed having beendemonstrated,

to my satisfaction, by actual experiments.

And I attain this object of my invention,

by means of a separate molding head for each different kind of molding, each blade of the head being wider than the head, and being rigidly bound and retainedbetween a chip-breaking support or ledge,and a lock-piece, each ledge and lock-piece having a contour line approximately corresponding to that of the confined blade, and projecting forward and beyond the cylinder described by the ordinary straight chipbreaking supporting ledge.

A. .further object of my invention .is to obtain in a molding,smooth, clean corner, and a smooth outer edge formed-by arse-parator and said molding head; andI .attain this object by combining a concave orhollow ground separator with suitableqsplitting and smoothing teeth, and said molding head; each of said blades gradually widening toward its cutting edge so asto extend transversely beyond the sides ofthe head, and to contact the concave side of the separator at only the very point of intersection of theblade edge with the said surface of the separator, so that said separator blade ,maybe held and supported undertension,

by reason of its bearing against said point of eachblade. Inthis way,.it ;is, absolutely impossible for any portion of the material adjacent to the side ofthe separator to drive,,an-d increasingly wedge, in between said blade and said separator surface, as would be the case if there were no such contact, thereby causing the separator blade tobend out of line, wabble and burn and destroy the finished edge or side of the molding, and to disfigure the corner of the molding by having it irre ular and rough, notwithstanding the contoured surface of the molding were given the desired finish.

A still further objectof my invention is to make out of a single piece of stock, two or more pieces of molding each being smooth to the very edge and having both a clean smooth edge and a smooth corner, without hand smoothing, and I attain this object by the use of one or more of said suitable splitting and smoothing separators, with two or more adjacent molding heads Ofthe above descriptiomas will more fully hereinafter appear in the description.

IInthedrawings illustrating the principle of rniy invention and the best mode now known tome of embodying the same in operative structure,Figure 1 is a view in eleva tion of my invention mounted upon a suitable arbor; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a molding head constituting one feature of my invention; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, onemol'dingblade with all of its cooperating elementsappearing in section; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail to show the extreme cutting point of themolding blade in contact with the side of a hollow ground separator; Fig.5 is a plan view partly in sectionlon line.55 of Fig. 6 showing the relationexaggerated between the concave side surfaces ofthe separators and the adjacent cuttingedgesof themolding head blades; the lock-pieces of the blades, having for the sakeof clearness beenremoved; it being understood and assumed that one or more heads and separators may be added when desii'ed;fFig. ,6 is an elevation partly in section on line 66 Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an exaggerated detail. sectional view showing a slight modification.

Upon an; arbor, 1, Figs. 1 and 5, may be suitably mounted one or more separators, as 2, 3, 4c, and two or more molding heads, as 5, 6, 7,.altcrnately arranged and secured thereon by suitable collars 8, 9. Each molding head, as ,"7, Figs.,2 and 3, is provided with say, four non-radial molding blades or bits 10, each having a cutting edge'suitable tudinal axis of the arbor 1 for a center. This supporting surface is formed in a central portion of the head, and a solid bracket body 14:; the central portion is that part of the head within the planes of the blade surfaces 13; while each bracket 1 1 is integral with, and extends outwardly from, its corner of the central portion. The outer end portion of the bracket body let is given a line of contour 15, F 2, approximately the same as that of the cutting edge 11 of the molding blade 10 and forms a thin, chip-breaking shoulder 16 from which the depth or thickness of the bracket increases as its outer surface approaches its adjacent blade support? ing surface. But the point of least projection of this line of contour is 17, and corresponds in position to the edge of the ordinary straight chip-breaking bit-supporting ledge; while all other points of contour line project forward and beyond said point of least projection 17, Fig. 3.

7 Each molding blade as 10, Figs. 3 and 5, having the desired configuration is mounted upon its supporting surface 13, the outer portion of each blade gradually widening, as from the width of the head, toward its cutting edge 11 sothat its extreme outer and inner side cutting points 18 and 19 respectively extend transversely beyond the sides of the head 7, Fig. 5.

A. lock-piece 20 for each blade has a plane under surface to engage the top surface of the blade; and an integral depending portion 21 that extends across the rear under portion of the lock-piece; it has the thickness of the blade, and rests upon the blade-supporting surface of the central portion of the head. A. lock-bolt 23. Fig. 3, passes through the lock-piece and a slot in the blade, and into a threaded hole in the central portion of the head; the lock-piece, the central por tion of the head, and the solid integral bracket support, thus rigidly but removably secure the blade in an operative position. The thickness of the lock-piece diminishes from that at its midportion, as its front edge is approached, the latter being thin and conforming substantially to the contour of the rear beveled edge of the cutting blade. This forward and downward inclination is preferably such that its angularity is less than that of the rear bevel of the blade, so that the cutter or blade can be sharpened, as by filing, without interference with the adjacent surface of the lock-piece. Likewise the rear of the lock-piece diminishes in depth, as it nears the adjacent supporting are two threaded adjusting bolts 22 adapted to engage the rear wall of the molding blade.

'They perform not only this function, but

serve as a rigid abutment in case the blade encounters knots and the like in the lumber.

From this description it will be obvious that the molding blades are rigid and secured between the surfaces 13 of the molding head with its rigid brackets 1 1', and the lock pieces 20; the cutting edge 11 of each blade being in such close proximity to the supporting edge of the bracket 1 and the rearbeveled edge of the blade being in such close proximity and substantial parallelism to the forward edge of the lock piece 20, that the leverage to which each of the blades is subjected, due to the operation of the molding head, is so reduced over the leverage in blades formerly employed in connection with ordinary planer heads, that the objectionable vibrations, chattering, possi: ble bending and breakage of the blades, are done away with, as are also the objections flowing from stripping the locking bolts. It will also be clear that as the depth of the integral depending piece 21 of the lock piece 20 is the same as the thickness of the blade, the under surface of the lcck piece is always held in parallelism, and in contact, with the top surface of the blade, regardless of whether the blade is long or short; consequently the latter will always be subjected to an even locking pressure. Further. it will be evident that any tendency of the blade to form a long chip or sliver is preventedby the short chip-breaking shoulder 16 on the outer edge of the integral supporting bracket, the function of which is at once to break what might otherwisebe a longer sliver. While the shoulder is most advantageous in preventing the long chips or sliv ers. the rearwardly and inwardly inclined surface of the supporting bracket will, but to a smaller degree, tend to serve the same purpose. The clearance space between the bracket support and the lock-piece, does, as

a fact, expel any chipsthat might collect therein and be carried around by the rotatmg head. To summarize: By means of this feature of my invention, a substantially nonradial blade mayhave any one 'ofvarious' working edge contours, for delivering shav-' ing cuts to any depth,-yet be provided-with sutlicient clearance, and means to form short chips and prevent'scoring and splitting of the stock; and also be rigidly secured against leverage and vibration resulting in inferior and'defectivesurfaces, a breakage of the blades, or a stripping of the retaining bolts; the speed at which the material is fed to the machine, being at a maximum. In

other words, with this molding head one can with greater speed than heretofore, provide a perfectly finished contour surface and bury the cutters in the wood to any depth required. That this molding head can accomplish these results seems to be due to two facts: fiirst, that each molding has a separate head, and that each of its blades is wider than the head, so that the blade may cut at a depth not limited by the width of the head; and second, that the head has a chip-breaking support or ledge, and a lockpiece, each having a contour line approximately corresponding to that of the adjacent molding blade, and projecting forward and beyond the cylinder described by the ordinary chip-breaking supporting ledge, so that the blade becomes absolutely rigid with the head and consequently the lumber can be fed to it at a greatly increased speed, and be given a finished. molded surface.

I will now describe the next features of my invention. Each separator as 3, t, Figs. 1 and 5, may be described as hollow or concave, ground, that is, its opposite side surfaces 25, gradually near each other in their approach toward its hub 23, Fig. 5, and lie within the planes 2% containing the points of the splitting and shaving teeth 26, 27 say, like those claimed in application Serial No. 842,509, filed by me, June 2, 1914. Molding blades, each having a suitable contour, are properly fixed in their seats in their respective molding heads; and each blade as 10, Figs. 4 and 5, has a portion of its side and cutting edge extend through the plane24 containing the points of the sepa rater teeth, so that its extreme outermost side cutting point 18 contacts with the concave surface 25 of the separator. The thickness of the hub 23 of the separator, and the distance which said extreme points 18 of the blade extend beyond the sides of the head, being such that when, by reason of the lock collars 8, 9 on the arbor, the hub 23 of each separator is in contact with its adjacent molding head, the concave side of the separator is in engagement with said points 18 of; the blade, and by reason of said engagement, is held under tension. It is obvious, therefore, that as the hubs of the separators tightly abut the sides of the heads, and also as the outside edge of one of the concave sides of the separator is in tensional engagement with the extreme outside single point of each of the blades of the head, the separator cannot wabble or bend, but is held absolutely in one and the same plane, and the cutting edge 11 to the extreme point 18, of the blade absolutely prevents the corner portion of the molding throughout its length, being left, as with a fine shaving or depending fine wood fibers. t will be noticed in Fig. 5 that the inner extreme cutting point 19 of the blade is nearer thevhub 23 of the ad jacent separator 4: than is the outer extreme cutting point 18 to the hub of its adjacent saw 3, and consequently said inner cutting point 19 may lie so much beyond the cutting plane 24 of the smoothing teeth of its separator, that any shaving or fiber that would remain otherwise at the corner of the mold ing would be removed by said cutting edge of the blade, even if said poifits 19 did not contact the concave side of the separator 4; and what is more, it will be plain that the separator, as 3, does not require the contact of the blade points, as 19, of head 6, to give it rigidity, for that is obtained by the tensional engagement of the separator with the extreme outer cutting points 18 of the blades of the head 7 on the opposite concave side 25 of the separator.

If the molding, such as an astragal, is comparatively thin on two edges, then it may be that both the extreme outside points of each blade would have to contact the concave side of their respective separators.

means of the above combination for example, two to ten moldings may be made side by side, at one operation from one or more boards passing through the machine at the same time; in fact, the number of moldings is limited only by the width of the machine, with no increase of overhead charges, absolutely eliminatin 25% waste in lumber over the old way, that is, by making a single strip of molding at a time; the quality and quantity of production is tremendously increased; old fashioned setups are done away with; any one or more patterns of molding may be produced, all alike, or not; more than 12 of salable lumber may be gotten out of 12 of lumber (measured according to the custom now prevailing in the trade) in the rough; all over and above one molding passed through this machine at one time, is a net material gain; and every perfect strip of molding produced without a blemish, is a net gain in the produced product. ()bviously, by means of this feature of my invention the quantity and quality of production are greatly increased.

It is to be understood that it is not essential to my invention that it should be embodied in the exact construction shown. For example, whilefrom the drawings, a separator recessed annularly at a point between the cutting teeth of the separator and the hub portion thereof appears cooperating with the outside points 18 of the cutting cage of the blades, it is plain that if these points 18 were used in connection with a splitting and shaving separator having plain rather than concave sides, the object of my invention would be attained, provided a suitable point of contact for said points 18 were formed in the bottom of a recess cut therefor out of the plain side surface of this saw, as shown at 25 in Fig. 7.

Desiring therefore to protect my invention and the various features thereof in the broadest manner legally possible, what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for cutting a plurality of moldings simultaneously, the combination of an arbor, two or more cutter heads thereon and one or more disk separators alternating with said cutter heads and clamped thereagainst, said separators extending circumferentially beyond the cutter heads and each being recessed in its side face between its hub and its teeth and each cutter head being provided with a series of tangential cutting blades, each blade widening toward its cutting edge, these widened portions projecting into the recesses in the sepa- 'ators, one at least of the widened points of the blades of at least one head having hard contact with the adjacent separator at the bottom of the recess in which it lies, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of two polygonal molding heads, each molding head having a series of tangential plane bit surfaces, each of said surfaces being projected forward of the next in advance adjacent seat, in a contour of approximately the desired configuration to be cut by the head; all of the points of projection of such line being forward of the plane of the ordinary chip breaking bit supporting ledge; a bit or molding blade to be mounted upon each of said surfaces and having a cutting edge of the desired configuration; a lock-piece to engage the top of each blade and having its outer edge in substantial parallelism with, and in close proximity to, the beveled contour of the blade; there being clearance between the rear of the lock-piece andthe supporting outer portion of the adjacent blade or bit surface; a bolt to secure each lock-piece to the head; and a hollow ground separator mounted between said molding heads; each of said blades gradually widening toward its edge so as to extend transversely beyond the sides of said head, and having its extreme outermost side cutting edge contact the side of the separator only at the very point of intersection of the bit edge with the surface of the separator; and means for holding the separator against said blade points, and supporting the tension in the separator.

3. The combination of two or more polygonal molding heads, each molding head having a series of tangential plane bit surfaces, each of said surfaces being projected forward of the next in advance adjacent seat, in a contour of approximately the desired configuration to be cut by the head; all of the points of projection of such line being forward of the plane of the ordinary chip breaking bit supporting ledge; a bit or molding blade to be mounted upon each of said surfaces and having a cutting edge of the desired configuration; a lock-piece to engage the top of each blade and having its outer edge in substantial parallelism with, and in close proximity to, the beveled con tour of the blade; there being clearance between the rear of the lock-piece and the supporting outer portion of the adjacent blade or bit surface; a bolt to secure each loek= piece to the head; and one or more hollow ground separators, each being mounted between two of said molding heads; each of said molding blades gradually widening toward its cutting edge, so as to extend transversely beyond the sides of said head; only the extreme outermost side cutting point of each blade contacting one concave side of its adjacent separator at a point within the plane containing the cutting points of the separator splitting and shaving teeth; and means for holding the separator against said blade points and supporting the tension in the separator.

4. The combination of two polygonal molding heads, each molding head having a series of tangential plane bit surfaces, each of said surfaces being projected forward of the next in advance adjacent seat, in a contour of approximately the desired configuration to be cut by the head; all of the points of projection of such line being forward of the plane of the ordinary chip breaking bit supporting ledge; a bit or molding blade to be mounted upon each of said surfaces and having a cutting edge of the desired configuration; a lock-piece to engage the top of each blade and having its outer edge in substantial parallelism with, and in close proximity to, the beveled contour of the blade; there being clearance between the rear of the lock-piece and the supporting outer portion of the adjacent blade or bit surface; a bolt to secure each lock-piece to the head; a hollow ground separator mounted between said polygonal molding heads; each of said blades gradually widening toward its edge so as to extend transversely beyond the sides of its head; only the extreme outermost side-cutting point of each blade of one head contacting one concave side of one separator; and the extreme innermost side cutting point of the blade of the adjacent head extending through the plane of the teeth, on the opposite side of the separator, far enough to prevent any of the molding passing between said points and their adjacent said concave side of said separator; and means for bold ing the said contacting extreme outermost cutting points of the blade against said separator, and supporting the tension in the separator.

5. Three or more polygonal molding heads having a series of tangential plane bit surfaces, each of said surfaces being projected forward of the next inadvance adjacent seat, in a contour of approximately the desired configuration to be cut by the head; all of the points of projection of such line being forward of theplane of the ordinary chip breaking bit supporting ledge; a bit or molding blade to be mounted upon each of said surfaces and having a cutting edge of the desired configuration, and each of said blades gradually widening toward its edge so as to extend transversely beyond the sides of said head; a lock-piece to engage the top of each blade and having its outer edge in substantial parallelism with, and in close proximity to, the beveled contour of the blade; there being clearance between the rear of the lock piece and the supporting outer portion of the adjacent blade or bit surface; and a bolt to secure each lock-piece in the head; two or more hollow ground separators, each being mounted between two of each of said blades extending transversely beyond the sides of its respective head; only the extreme outermost sidecutting point of each blade, contacting one concave side of one separator; and the extreme innermost side cutting point of each blade extending through the plane of the teeth of the adjacent separator, far enough to prevent any of the molding passing between said points and their adjacent concave side of said separator; and means for holding said separators against said extreme outermost cutting points of the blades and supporting the tension in the separators.

6. A polygonal head having a series of tangential plane bit surfaces, each of said surfaces being projected forward of the next in advance adjacent seat, in a contour of the desired conformation to be cut by the head; all of the points of projection of such line being forward of the ordinary chip breaking bit supporting ledge; a bit or molding blade to be mounted upon each said surface, and having a cutting edge of the desired configuration and extending transversely beyond the sides of the head; a lock piece to engage the top surface of each blade, and adapted to have its outer edge in substantial parallelism with, and in close proximity to the beveled contour of the blade; there being clearance between the rear of the lock piece and the support ing outer portion of the adjacent blade or bit surface; and a bolt to secure each lock piece to the head.

In testimony whereof I'hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN 0. DE LANEY.

. lVitnesses:

E. F. UNIAo, B. M. SHEDD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents' Washington, D. G. 

